
Cell growth modeling review for cultivated meat production: Recommendations to improve techno-economic models

Event description
Scaling cultivated meat cost-effectively requires predictive tools that can guide performance at unprecedented production volumes. In this webinar, GFI and BioFarm Designs will present findings from a new report reviewing cell growth models for cultivated meat production, highlighting the critical role of computational modeling in advancing process optimization, cost estimation, and bioprocess design.
The webinar will explore:
- 📊 Cell growth models for cultivated meat, including empirical, structured, and energetics-based approaches.
- 🔍 Available data for and the most pressing gaps limiting current cell growth models.
- 🚀 Research priorities and recommendations to guide more accurate, adaptable, and scalable process modeling.
Join us to learn how this project lays the groundwork for more robust, adaptable, and realistic models of cell growth, a cornerstone for scaling cultivated meat. By improving predictions of cell performance across bioreactors and operating conditions, these models can better guide process development, cost estimation, and research priorities, providing a foundational reference for scientists, modelers, and the broader cultivated meat ecosystem.
Meet the speakers

Elliot Swartz, PhD
SENIOR PRINCIPAL SCIENTIST, CULTIVATED MEAT
THE GOOD FOOD INSTITUTE
Elliot’s work at GFI focuses on analyzing the technical and economic bottlenecks facing the cultivated meat industry, identifying opportunities to accelerate the industry, and educating scientists, the public, and other industry stakeholders. For the past seven years, Elliot has worked on projects ranging from food safety and environmental impact to in-depth analysis of the cultivated meat value chain. Elliot holds a Ph.D. in neuroscience from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), where he worked with induced pluripotent stem cells to model neuromuscular disease.

Bert Frohlich, PhD
PRINCIPAL & OWNER
BIOPHARM DESIGNS
Bert Frohlich is a PhD biochemical engineer with a career of over 25 years in the biopharmaceutical industry. He has held director-level positions at Shire (now Takeda), Amgen, EMD, and Acambis and Genzyme (now Sanofi) where he led groups of engineers and scientists in bioprocess development and manufacturing technical support. As an expert in cell culture and fermentation process development, he has designed facilities and introduced a variety of therapeutics and vaccines into commercial biomanufacturing.
He is currently sole proprietor of his own consultancy, Biopharm Designs, LLC, which he established in 2016. In 2018, he transitioned his practice to focus on cultivated meat and alternative proteins for food due to his passion for the environment and achieving long-term sustainability as the key to fighting food insecurity and climate change. Since then, he has served several cultivated meat companies and was the acting Vice President of Engineering and Commercialization for BlueNalu Inc. and Ivy Farm Technologies, both cultivated meat startup companies. Recently, he has partnered with the GFI to publish a white paper on mathematical modeling for technoeconomic assessments.